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Monthly Archives: June 2012

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He had been so excited in the weeks leading up to Saturday. But when Saturday finally came… From the minute he woke up, it was all “I don’t want to go surfing today.”

The anticipation is sometimes just too much. And most of the time, when Noah gets an idea in his head, forget it.

But I just tried to keep it casual. Ignore the protests and not make a big deal about what was coming up. Thankfully, he was in a later group. Plenty of time to adjust and play before he had to go.

And when it was time, he just went.

We handed him off to the sweet girls who get him dressed in his wetsuit and life jacket. And like every other time, Noah just surrendered. No questions, no hesitations, no protests. A little giggle about how cold the wet wetsuit was, but that’s it.

I wish I knew their secret.

We had a bit of a wait at the water for a surfer. I expected him to lose his nerve. I expected a fit. Instead we got a lovely volunteer who held his hands while he jumped in the waves.

And then Nick and Izzy came in. Nick Hernandez is a super cool long time Surfers Healing volunteer. I was pretty excited that he might take Noah out. But another boy was ahead of Noah & went with Nick.

And Noah got Izzy.

Which is just so cool. This man. This wonderful man and his beautiful family have dedicated their lives to giving back to families like ours. And at the same time, being a family like ours! It’s inspiring.

Noah had a blast. He’s smiling in almost all of the pictures (400+) that I took. He looks relaxed. (!!!) He came out begging to go back in. At one point, after I told him that he couldn’t go again because his turn was over, he told me to pretend that his name was Caden. So that he could have another turn.

The whole day was fun. I can’t get enough of being on a beach with hundreds of other families and feeling no judgement. Just happiness. You can’t help but smile as you look around. So much excitment and wonder. Seeing these tough looking surfer guys, who normally would intimidate me to no end, being so excited about a ride they just took with one of our kids. It’s unreal. The volunteers (and there are a lot of them!) are all so amazing.

They should hand out angel wings and halos along with the red volunteer shirts.